'I just sort of went with it,' actress says of her ceremony dress in the film, out in select theaters this week.
By Jocelyn Vena, with reporting by Chris Kim
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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 31-Oct-2013
ShareContact: Meng Zhao
eic@nrren.org
86-138-049-98773
Neural Regeneration Research
Amyloid β-peptide, a major component of senile plaques in Alzheimer's disease, has been impli-cated in neuronal cell death and cognitive impairment. Recently, studies have shown that the pathogenesis of cerebral ischemia is closely linked with Alzheimer's disease. According to a study, administration of amyloid β-peptide could further aggravate impairments to learning and memory and neuronal cell death in the hippocampus of rats subjected to cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury. The synergistic effect of amyloid β-peptide and cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury exacerbated nerve damage by inducing glycogen synthase kinase 3β and protein phosphatase 2A activity, which resulted in the phosphorylation of tau protein. This study by Dr. Bo Song and team from Research Center of Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, China was published in the Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 8, No. 26, 2013)
###
Article: " Amyloid beta-peptide worsens cognitive impairment following cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury," by Bo Song1, 2, Qiang Ao3, Ying Niu2, Qin Shen1, Huancong Zuo3, Xiufang Zhang2, Yandao Gong2 (1 Research Center of Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China; 2 State Key Laboratory of Biomembrane and Membrane Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China; 3 Institute of Neurology Disorders, Yuquan Hospital, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100049, China)
Song B, Ao Q, Niu Y, Shen Q, Zuo HC, Zhang XF, Gong YD. Amyloid beta-peptide worsens cognitive impairment following cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury. Neural Regen Res. 2013;8(26):2449-2457.
Contact:
Meng Zhao
eic@nrren.org
86-138-049-98773
Neural Regeneration Research
http://www.nrronline.org/
Full text: http://www.sjzsyj.org/CN/article/downloadArticleFile.do?attachType=PDF&id=718
Share
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 31-Oct-2013
ShareContact: Meng Zhao
eic@nrren.org
86-138-049-98773
Neural Regeneration Research
Amyloid β-peptide, a major component of senile plaques in Alzheimer's disease, has been impli-cated in neuronal cell death and cognitive impairment. Recently, studies have shown that the pathogenesis of cerebral ischemia is closely linked with Alzheimer's disease. According to a study, administration of amyloid β-peptide could further aggravate impairments to learning and memory and neuronal cell death in the hippocampus of rats subjected to cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury. The synergistic effect of amyloid β-peptide and cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury exacerbated nerve damage by inducing glycogen synthase kinase 3β and protein phosphatase 2A activity, which resulted in the phosphorylation of tau protein. This study by Dr. Bo Song and team from Research Center of Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, China was published in the Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 8, No. 26, 2013)
###
Article: " Amyloid beta-peptide worsens cognitive impairment following cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury," by Bo Song1, 2, Qiang Ao3, Ying Niu2, Qin Shen1, Huancong Zuo3, Xiufang Zhang2, Yandao Gong2 (1 Research Center of Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China; 2 State Key Laboratory of Biomembrane and Membrane Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China; 3 Institute of Neurology Disorders, Yuquan Hospital, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100049, China)
Song B, Ao Q, Niu Y, Shen Q, Zuo HC, Zhang XF, Gong YD. Amyloid beta-peptide worsens cognitive impairment following cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury. Neural Regen Res. 2013;8(26):2449-2457.
Contact:
Meng Zhao
eic@nrren.org
86-138-049-98773
Neural Regeneration Research
http://www.nrronline.org/
Full text: http://www.sjzsyj.org/CN/article/downloadArticleFile.do?attachType=PDF&id=718
Share
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Outside a state-of-the-art grain elevator, Democratic Rep. Bruce Braley talks of how Republicans and Democrats in Congress need to overcome differences that scuttled farm legislation last summer. A day later, he tells veterans at a rec center in his blue-collar, northern Iowa district that both parties should work together to help them.
"The issues surrounding our veterans should be issues that bring us together, not issues that drive us apart," Braley says in a bipartisan pitch that lacks direct criticism of Republicans over the 16-day partial government shutdown.
In this district dotted with farming towns, as well as in districts around the country, the political environment is toxic for lawmakers running for re-election or seeking higher office. Polls show voters of all political stripes are down on Washington, especially after the shutdown. While people blame Republicans more, Democrats are hardly immune to criticism and easily could be fired next year. Besides, a second-term president's party typically suffers losses in midterm elections.
Braley and many other Democrats are treading carefully. They are avoiding the partisan slashing that marked the shutdown crisis, delicately presenting their party as the better bet to break the gridlock, and seeking to take advantage of a possible political opening.
A CBS News poll taken immediately after the shutdown showed more Americans see more Democrats as pursuing the right level of compromise than Republicans, 35 percent to 24 percent.
Still, Democrats are mindful of the risks of overplaying their hand. Gloating over the GOP's public squabbles probably wouldn't go over well with a public angry and hungering for Washington to work together. Assailing Republicans as ideological obstructionists also could give voters reason to view all politicians as the same. And acting overconfident could invite criticism that Democrats are out of touch with a public made bitter not just by the shutdown, but by weeks of problems with a health care law enacted solely by their party.
Braley has extra incentive to play nice. He is running for the Senate next year.
He also may have a case to make about bipartisanship. During the shutdown, he was among a handful of Democratic House members to vote with Republicans in favor of the 35 bills that would have at least partially reopened government. But he also opposed four of five resolutions that would have avoided the interruption in government services in the first place, leaving him open to Republican criticism.
A National Republican Congressional Committee spokeswoman called Braley's position a "convenient display of bipartisanship."
Braley also took heat during the shutdown for a comment he made on a radio show about the House gym's closure. "There's no towel service. We're doing our own laundry down there," he said, providing comedic fodder for TV hosts Jimmy Kimmel and Jon Stewart.
Lost in the laughter, Braley says, was the point he was trying to make about lawmakers' checking politics at the gym door.
"It's a place where members come together," he later explained. "That's something we need more of, not less of."
That was precisely his message on a quick visit home this month.
In Cedar Falls, Braley told farmers he was trying to rally rural Democrats and Republicans to reach out to urban Democrats facing pressure to oppose the farm bill's cuts in food-stamp spending. He said he's reminding all lawmakers that without a farm bill, food prices could spike and prompt voters to fault lawmakers next fall.
His message: "Let's try to work together to address all of these issues, realizing there's going to have to be give-and-take."
Jon Mixdorf, an independent voter from Cedar Falls, was among the skeptics in the crowd. He said the congressman has to do more to make the case to angry Iowans that he's above the partisan fray.
"I don't think people can see it, at least not yet," Mixdorf said. "He's just one man and there's so much noise out there."
In Cedar Rapids, veteran Randy Dunn pressed Braley to prove his commitment to legislation that would ensure that veterans get all their benefits if another shutdown occurs by working to get it passed before Veterans' Day, Nov. 11.
"I just want you to stand up and do the right thing, because it is the right thing," Dunn said.
Today, only health care benefits — they constitute 85 percent of veterans benefits — are budgeted a year in advance. The bill would put all other benefits, such as housing and vocational training, under the same protection. It has bipartisan support in both the House and Senate. The White House has been ambivalent.
Braley said he was optimistic it could pass. "This is one of those issues that can bring us together and get us focused on what the right thing is to do," he said, "not what the politically expedient thing is to do."
For all the talk of finding common ground, some constituents remained skeptical — underscoring the challenge for Braley and other politicians.
"I'm not so sure he's any different than the rest," said Larry Van Lincker, a retired veteran from Cedar Rapids. "I think they ought to throw them all out."
Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-10-31-Shutdown%20Politics/id-8bdbade9844445dfad7b6b7da245c99d
Google Cloud SQL now supports native MySQL connections, a move that is intended to make it easier to integrate third-party applications. With the support, native MySQL apps can be plugged into Cloud SQL, allowing the customer to leave system administration and management for Google.
Through MySQL Wire Protocol, the standard connection protocol for MySQL databases, Google maintains that CloudSQL allows for low latency connections from applications running on Google Compute Engine and Google App Engine. Customers can use popular tools such as MySQL Workbench, Toad and the MySQL command-line tool to manage Cloud SQL instances. It also supports standard drivers, such as Connector/J, Connector/ODBC, and Connector/NET.
The native connectivity also means that data can be replicated with control over managing and deploying cloud databases. For example, Google notes in its post that data can be replicated between Cloud SQL and on-premise databases — including Oracle, SQL Server, and DB2.
The support demonstrates how connectors like MySQL Wire Protocol will help create transparency between cloud services and any on-premise application. It’s a service that should attract those looking for the level of managed services that Google provides.
Google is starting to offer features that Amazon Web Services (AWS) has had for a few years. Google is starting to offer features that Amazon Web Services (AWS) has had for a few years. While Google launched the core of its CloudSQL service in June, AWS launched its MySQL service in 2009 and in 2012 began offering support for Oracle Database.
Then there is the pricing. According to the InfoQ blog, AWS RDS is “cheaper than corresponding Google Cloud SQL pay-per-hour options, but one needs to consider other costs such as data storage and transfer fees, etc.”
Ever wonder how hot it gets inside of a cow's stomach? Neither have we, but if we ever had cause to find out, we can thankfully now do so wirelessly. Front and center in ARM's Internet of Things display at ArmTechCon this week we found Well Cow, a bovine health monitor that bobs around your cattle's ...Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, center, walks with Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., right, and Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013, before their meeting. Earlier, the prime minister met with Vice President Joe Biden. (AP Photo/Molly Riley)
Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, center, walks with Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., right, and Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013, before their meeting. Earlier, the prime minister met with Vice President Joe Biden. (AP Photo/Molly Riley)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki (NOO'-ree ahl-MAHL'-ih-kee) is expected to appeal to President Barack Obama for more U.S. assistance in beating back the bloody insurgency consuming his country.
Obama and al-Maliki will meet at the White House Friday. The Iraqi prime minister's new aid requests come nearly two years after his government refused to let American forces stay in Iraq with legal immunity after the nine-year war formally ended.
Violence started rising in Iraq within months of the U.S. troop departure at the end of 2011. The State Department says at least 6,000 Iraqis have been killed in attacks so far this year.
The White House says Obama will raise concerns about the violence in Iraq and ways to reduce it during his meeting with al-Maliki.
Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-11-01-US-United-States-Iraq/id-a6bb614feb744a0cb97294af1f0a188eBellator MMA returns to Thackerville, Oklahoma next week with a stacked lineup including three tournament finals. At the top of the lineup will be the Season 9 heavyweight final that pits Cheick Kongo against replacement Peter Graham. The Spike TV main card will also feature the bantamweight tournament title between Joe Warren and Travis Marx, as well as the middleweight final between Brennan Ward and Mikkel Parlo.
“I want to fight the best in Bellator so I can be the best,” Kongo said. “When I try to do things as a competitor, I want to be the best. I messed up before because I wasn’t focused like I’ve been from the beginning. But, now … I will be the best. It’s my time. I came to Bellator for the opportunity to show the best Cheick Kongo. And that’s it.”
Bellator 107 will air live via Spike TV, with the preliminary card airing on Spike.com.
Bellator 107 Fight Card
Main Card (Spike TV 9PM ET)
Preliminary Card (Spike TV)
For more on Bellator 107 and the latest Bellator MMA News, stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.
Apple's new lighter and thinner full-sized iPad has only just embarked on its world tour and already the intrepid teardown specialists at iFixit have had the thing in pieces. So, what's the verdict? Like its older sibling, the iPad mini, the iPad Air didn't perform too well on the repairability scale, scoring two out of 10. To be fair, Apple has ensured that the LCD and front glass are separate components, aiding any future replacements, with LG supplying a thinner display for this particular model. However, while the two-cell battery isn't soldered tight, iFixit maintains that the liberal application of adhesive makes it one of its most "difficult battery removal procedures to date." With a combination of glue and sticky tape hindering access to the Air's internals, Apple ensures at-home repairs are less than ideal, but that won't affect your decision to purchase one, right?
In the light of a seemingly endless series of revelations about the NSA's multi-faceted infiltrations of just about every network there is, including the private fiber used by Google and Yahoo, more and more folks are stepping up to offer possible solutions.
But because both the Internet and encryption aren't as singular or straightforward as they could be, it isn't likely to be something that can be delivered as a single product anytime soon.
The most common analogy used about email security is that it's no better than a postcard written in pencil and sent via conventional mail. To do something about it, two big names in security, Lavabit and Silent Circle, are joining forces to create a project they call the Dark Mail Alliance.
Silent Circle, a provider of both encrypted email and phone solutions, and Lavabit, a secure email provider, both made headlines earlier this year when they voluntarily shut down their email services in the wake of Edward Snowden's leaks about NSA actions against ISPs, rather than be a party to such spying. Their plan is to help create a new email system that is as resistant as technologically possible to spying.
The idea isn't to offer a product per se, but rather to create an open standard that could be freely implemented by themselves or by third parties. "1,000 Lavabits all around the world," was how Jon Callas, CTO and founder of Silent Circle, described it in a discussion with Infoworld.
This decentralized plan is both the best and worst thing about the project: Best in the sense that no one person has explicit control over it, but worst in the sense that it's also not possible to guarantee how consistently it can be delivered if it's an open project.
The technical details of Dark Mail involve taking existing email clients -- Outlook and Exchange were cited as possible targets -- and outfitting them with add-ons that would use the XMPP Web messaging protocol in conjunction with another encryption protocol developed by Silent Circle, named, appropriately enough, SCIMP, or Silent Circle Instant Message Protocol. Encryption keys are held on the end user's system and not managed by the email providers themselves, so a court order against the ISP will yield nothing. Both the message's contents and metadata (e.g., to/from headers) are encrypted.
The thing is, the technical details of encrypted email aren't themselves the real obstacle. The difficulties tend to be social -- that is, getting people to use the existing standards and projects in the first place. Many existing packages, such as Enigmail, already allow you to equip email clients with encryption without too much difficulty. But few non-technical users bother with them, in big part because in order to send someone else an encrypted message, they have to be running the same software. The lack of a common implementation, as common as a web browser, is a big stumbling block, but end user indifference is ultimately the biggest reason why most email isn't encrypted.
The other issue is something Silent Circle and Lavabit are at least attempting to tackle: Participation from common email providers. If Gmail supported the Dark Mail standard, for instance, that would provide a great many existing email users with a near-seamless way to make use of it, but so far, no third-party mail providers have piped up. That might well be a defensive measure: If they announced early on they were working on such a thing, it would give attackers all the more time to try and plan a way to subvert it.
The Snowden papers have also showed how even those who do take the pains to encrypt can have their privacy subverted by attackers who simply perform an end-run around the encryption and intercept information either before or after it's ever encrypted. Unfortunately, the only way to prevent such a thing is via such extreme measures as an air-gapped system.
So what can we expect from Dark Mail? If it's ever implemented as its creators intend, it ought to serve two functions: Give end users a way to casually encrypt email without going through a whole hassle, and make them that much more conscious of how, on the current Internet, there may not be any safe places at all.
This story, "Email goes 'Dark' -- encrypted, that is," was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Get the first word on what the important tech news really means with the InfoWorld Tech Watch blog. For the latest developments in business technology news, follow InfoWorld.com on Twitter.
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 31-Oct-2013
ShareContact: Judy Romero
jromero@crf.org
Cardiovascular Research Foundation
SAN FRANCISCO, CA October 31, 2013 According to a new study of heart attack patients treated with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), free access to platelet function testing had only a modest impact on anti-clotting drug selection and dosing. Findings of the TRANSLATE-POPS trial were presented today at the 25th annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific symposium. Sponsored by the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF), TCT is the world's premier educational meeting specializing in interventional cardiovascular medicine.
While previous trials have examined platelet function testing-guided antiplatelet treatment strategies among patients undergoing PCI, little is known regarding how this testing impacts real world practice. The TRANSLATE-POPS trial evaluated whether routine availability of platelet function testing alters clinician selection and dosing of anti-clotting therapy, as well as patient outcomes after acute myocardial infarction treated with PCI. The primary end point was the rate of in-hospital therapeutic adjustments to anti-clotting therapy.
The prospective, cluster randomized trial randomly assigned sites not already routinely testing platelet function (
A total of 2,013 patients at 50 sites were enrolled in the device arm and 1,853 patients at 50 sites were enrolled in the usual care arm. Platelet function testing was performed in 66 percent of patients in the device arm and 1.4 percent of patients in the usual care arm. Compared to the usual care arm, device arm patients were more likely to have an in-hospital therapeutic adjustment of their antiplatelet regimen (15.9 percent in the device arm vs. 11.6 percent in the usual care arm). The device arm had a higher rate of switching antiplatelet agents (14.5 percent vs. 10.6 percent). The odds ratio for therapeutic adjustment, accounting for clustering effect within a site, was 1.54 for device vs. usual care.
However, after 30 days, patients in the device arm experienced a similar percentage of major adverse cardiac events compared to the usual care arm (4.5 percent vs. 5.1 percent, respectively). Both groups reported a similar rate of bleeding events (4.2 percent in the device arm vs. 4.3 percent in the usual care arm).
"TRANSLATE-POPS demonstrated that accessibility to platelet function testing had only a modest impact on ADP receptor inhibitor selection and dosing," said lead investigator Tracy Wang MD, MHS, MS of the Duke Clinical Research Institute.
"However, access to testing had no observed impact on early bleeding complications or major adverse cardiac events. An investigation of long-term outcomes is ongoing."
###
The TRANSLATE-POPS trial is funded by Lilly and Daiichi Sankyo. Dr. Wang reported research grants to the Duke Clinical Research Institute from Daiichi Sankyo, Eli Lilly, Gilead Sciences, and GlaxoSmithKline; and honoraria from AstraZeneca and the American College of Cardiology Foundation.
About CRF and TCT
The Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF) is an independent, academically focused nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the survival and quality of life for people with cardiovascular disease through research and education. Since its inception in 1991, CRF has played a major role in realizing dramatic improvements in the lives of countless numbers of patients by establishing the safe use of new technologies and therapies in interventional cardiovascular medicine. CRF is the sponsor of the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific symposium. Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, TCT is the world's premier educational meeting specializing in interventional cardiovascular medicine. For more information, visit http://www.crf.org and http://www.tctconference.com.
Share
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 31-Oct-2013
ShareContact: Judy Romero
jromero@crf.org
Cardiovascular Research Foundation
SAN FRANCISCO, CA October 31, 2013 According to a new study of heart attack patients treated with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), free access to platelet function testing had only a modest impact on anti-clotting drug selection and dosing. Findings of the TRANSLATE-POPS trial were presented today at the 25th annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific symposium. Sponsored by the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF), TCT is the world's premier educational meeting specializing in interventional cardiovascular medicine.
While previous trials have examined platelet function testing-guided antiplatelet treatment strategies among patients undergoing PCI, little is known regarding how this testing impacts real world practice. The TRANSLATE-POPS trial evaluated whether routine availability of platelet function testing alters clinician selection and dosing of anti-clotting therapy, as well as patient outcomes after acute myocardial infarction treated with PCI. The primary end point was the rate of in-hospital therapeutic adjustments to anti-clotting therapy.
The prospective, cluster randomized trial randomly assigned sites not already routinely testing platelet function (
A total of 2,013 patients at 50 sites were enrolled in the device arm and 1,853 patients at 50 sites were enrolled in the usual care arm. Platelet function testing was performed in 66 percent of patients in the device arm and 1.4 percent of patients in the usual care arm. Compared to the usual care arm, device arm patients were more likely to have an in-hospital therapeutic adjustment of their antiplatelet regimen (15.9 percent in the device arm vs. 11.6 percent in the usual care arm). The device arm had a higher rate of switching antiplatelet agents (14.5 percent vs. 10.6 percent). The odds ratio for therapeutic adjustment, accounting for clustering effect within a site, was 1.54 for device vs. usual care.
However, after 30 days, patients in the device arm experienced a similar percentage of major adverse cardiac events compared to the usual care arm (4.5 percent vs. 5.1 percent, respectively). Both groups reported a similar rate of bleeding events (4.2 percent in the device arm vs. 4.3 percent in the usual care arm).
"TRANSLATE-POPS demonstrated that accessibility to platelet function testing had only a modest impact on ADP receptor inhibitor selection and dosing," said lead investigator Tracy Wang MD, MHS, MS of the Duke Clinical Research Institute.
"However, access to testing had no observed impact on early bleeding complications or major adverse cardiac events. An investigation of long-term outcomes is ongoing."
###
The TRANSLATE-POPS trial is funded by Lilly and Daiichi Sankyo. Dr. Wang reported research grants to the Duke Clinical Research Institute from Daiichi Sankyo, Eli Lilly, Gilead Sciences, and GlaxoSmithKline; and honoraria from AstraZeneca and the American College of Cardiology Foundation.
About CRF and TCT
The Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF) is an independent, academically focused nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the survival and quality of life for people with cardiovascular disease through research and education. Since its inception in 1991, CRF has played a major role in realizing dramatic improvements in the lives of countless numbers of patients by establishing the safe use of new technologies and therapies in interventional cardiovascular medicine. CRF is the sponsor of the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific symposium. Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, TCT is the world's premier educational meeting specializing in interventional cardiovascular medicine. For more information, visit http://www.crf.org and http://www.tctconference.com.
Share
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
This compelling, eco-themed documentary will be of vital interest to anyone who loves acoustic guitars.
Nov. 1
Maxine Trump
The Taylor, Martin and Gibson guitar companies may be longtime competitors, but they have one goal in common: to guarantee the continued supply of the high-quality wood essential to their product. Maxine Trump’s documentary Musicwood vividly illustrates the scope of the problem in its depiction of the battle to preserve the rapidly diminishing forests essential to supplying the next Bob Dylan with a high-quality acoustic guitar to strum.
The film’s central conflict is a complicated one, insofar as it involves Native American loggers, not a group that would normally be thought of as being harmful to the environment. But their stewardship of Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, a rainforest whose Sitka Spruce tree is ideal for the building of the soundboards of acoustic guitars, has created problems. The supply is quickly being extinguished as the forests have fallen victim to their practice of clear-cutting, which destroys wide swaths in one fell swoop. Much of the wood goes not to the guitar manufacturers, but rather to Asian-based companies who need it to fuel that region’s ever growing construction industry.
Documenting the quest of the company’s CEOs to battle the foresting practices with the help of the environmental group Greenpeace, the film delivers a compelling portrait of the complicated issues involved. The filmmaker’s sympathies are made evident by the presence of numerous prominent musicians -- Steve Earle, Kaki King, members of such groups as Lambchop and Yo La Tengo, among others -- who movingly testify to the glories of the acoustic guitar as well as providing music for the soundtrack.
The heroes and villains of the story are not always clear -- Gibson, for instance, runs afoul of the U.S. government after it begins importing rosewood, another vital ingredient, from Madagascar. At times the film borders on being overly sentimental, such as an interview with one veteran guitar-maker who says, “It’s all I’ve ever done…I’m unemployable.” But anyone who’s ever lovingly handled a beautifully made guitar will be made uneasy by this account of the embattled industry’s struggles.
Opens Nov. 1 (Helpman Productions)
Director: Maxine Trump
Producers: Josh Granger, Maxine Trump
Director of photography: Curt Wallin
Editor: Josh Granger
Not rated, 80 min.
Happy Halloween! Kelly Ripa channels Miley Cyrus, Kim Kardashian, and Lindsey Vonn for Halloween 2013. Plus, Matt Lauer wears a red swimsuit as Pamela Anderson's Baywatch character: See Us Weekly's top stories from Thursday, Oct. 31, in the daily roundup.
1. Photos: Kelly Ripa's Halloween 2013 Costumes: Miley Cyrus, Kim Kardashian, Lindsey Vonn, and More!
Leave it to Live! to celebrate Halloween with the biggest stars of 2013 -- sort of. Show co-hosts Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan observed the holiday on Thursday, Oct. 31, with costume-filled fun, dressed as Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, Lindsey Vonn and Tiger Woods, and Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke, among many other pop culture icons of today.
2. Photos: Today Show Halloween Costumes 2013: Matt Lauer as Pamela Anderson, Wears Red Swimsuit
Matt Lauer's Halloween costume puts all others to shame. The Today anchor took his show's '80s TV characters theme to a new level on Oct. 31, donning a red swimsuit and blonde wig as Pamela Anderson's Baywatch character, C.J. Parker.
3. Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson Meet Again, Five Months After Split
Robsten reunited! As many hopeful Twilight fans predicted, Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson haven't closed the chapter on their relationship just yet -- at least, as friends. On Wednesday, Oct. 30, the 23-year-old actress and 27-year-old actor were seen meeting up, five months after their split in May.
4. Exclusive: Lamar Odom: Khloe Kardashian and I Are "Wonderful," "Unbreakable"
Khloe Kardashian and Lamar Odom are working out their marital problems after all. As exclusively revealed in the new issue of Us Weekly, Kardashian has decided to give her husband a second chance after kicking him out of their home over his cheating and drug use. At the Inside Jokes Comedy Club in L.A. on Wednesday, Oct. 30, an upbeat Odom opened up to Us about how he and Kardashian are doing.
5. Ellen DeGeneres Dresses as Nicki Minaj for Halloween, Shows Major Cleavage
Ellen DeGeneres' Halloween costume this year earns her the booby prize! The 55-year-old talk show host kicked off her special Halloween episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Thursday, Oct. 31, dressed as a scantily-clad Nicki Minaj.
FILE - This Feb. 18, 2013 file photo shows actress Ellie Kemper at the Vanity Fair and Juicy Couture Celebration for the 2013 Vanities Calendar at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles. NBC has ordered 13 episodes of a new singlecam comedy from multiple Emmy Award winners Tina Fey and Robert Carlock. Ellie Kemper is set to star. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — NBC says it's ordering 13 episodes of a new comedy created by Tina Fey and starring Ellie Kemper of "The Office."
The network says Kemper will play a woman who flees a doomsday cult and begins a new life in New York city. The actress had joined "The Office" as Erin the receptionist in the show's 2009 season.
NBC says Fey created the new series with Robert Carlock, who was an executive producer on her Emmy-winning series "30 Rock." The pair will join in writing the new comedy and serve as executive producers along with David Miner.
NBC says the new show, as yet untitled, is scheduled to debut in fall 2014.
FILE - This July 28, 2013 file photo shows singer Katy Perry at the world premiere of "The Smurfs 2" in Los Angeles. Perry says though she’s “older and wiser,” she still plans to have fun on her new album. During an interview with an Australian radio show this week, the pop star said she sang backing vocals for Mick Jagger’s 2004 song, “Old Habits Die Hard.” Perry said she had dinner with the veteran rocker and that “he hit on me when I was 18.” In a statement Thursday, Oct. 31, a representative for Jagger says he “categorically denies that he has ever made a pass at Katy Perry.” (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — In her teenage dream? Mick Jagger says he never hit on Katy Perry when she was 18.
During an interview with an Australian radio show this week, the pop star said she sang backing vocals for Jagger's 2004 song "Old Habits Die Hard." Perry said she had dinner with the veteran rocker and that "he hit on me when I was 18."
In a statement Thursday, a representative for Jagger says he "categorically denies that he has ever made a pass at Katy Perry." The rep adds: "Perhaps she is confusing him with someone else."
Perry was one of the singers to make a guest appearance on the Rolling Stones' tour this year. The 29-year-old singer also said in the interview that the 70-year-old Jagger has been "very kind" to her.
